Two successful trailblazers in the field of digital transformation have entered into a strategic partnership with immediate effect.

Axel Springer hy and Klöckner & Co, through its digital unit kloeckner.i, will in the future work together to offer selected services, creating a unique consulting service provided by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. Axel Springer and Klöckner & Co have realigned their respective businesses to meet the demands of the digital world with exceptional success. Both companies are pioneers and role models in the field of digital transformation and have now joined forces to share with other companies what they have learned. The partners bring complementary strengths to this new alliance.

Axel Springer generates more than 80 percent of its operating profits through digital offerings. These include numerous disruptive platforms that enjoy success across the globe. Set up in early 2017, Axel Springer hy is an Axel Springer SE company. The Axel Springer hy experts assist businesses with their digital and cultural transformation as well as in developing and implementing their strategy. Through kloeckner.i, Klöckner & Co has forged ahead with its own digital transformation, to the extent that digital channels already account for around a quarter of Group sales. The Company plans to increase this to 60 percent by 2022. In addition, Klöckner launched the XOM Materials platform, which makes it possible to digitally trade in a wide range of materials. The platform is also open to the Company's competitors. Both companies effected internal cultural and organizational change in order to make these successes possible.

Axel Springer hy employs more than 40 digital experts who provide consulting services to customers outside of Axel Springer SE in the fields of analysis, strategy, cultural change, company building, investments and venturing. Since being set up in February 2017, it has handled 90 projects for 52 customers. In Berlin, almost 90 kloeckner.i employees are dedicated to the digital transformation of Klöckner & Co, as well as platform design, construction and operation. They are also responsible for driving cultural change within the Group. This team's expertise will now for the first time be available on the open market. Axel Springer hy and Klöckner's digital team will remain legally independent entities that offer their joint services to customers from a single source.

Axel Springer hy CEO Christoph Keese says of the partnership: "We are unified in our entrepreneurial approach. We at Axel Springer hy and our colleagues at Klöckner are driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and the desire to effect change. Everything we offer to our customers, we have already tried and tested ourselves - and we never stop learning. We are aware of the difficulties associated with digital transformation and will not rest until we have found the right solution for our customers. We complement our Klöckner colleagues well and are now fluent in the languages of both heavy industry and the digital sector. As a team, our aim is to score successes for our clients. We are helping to turn the 20th century's top performers into 21st century champions."

Gisbert Rühl, CEO of Klöckner & Co explains: "The two companies' respective capabilities are the ideal match. With kloeckner.i, we have successfully developed B2B platforms using our own team - from concept idea through design to programming - while at the same time ensuring integration with our core business. We are now giving other companies access to the knowledge we have gained as pioneers in this field, combined with Axel Springer hy's exceptional expertise. The hy team are leading consultants when it comes to disruptive strategies and their implementation within companies."